Martin Brunner: piano
Rastislav Uhrík: bass
Tomáš Hobzek: drums
Martin Brunner is a jazz pianist and composer, and comes from Hradec Králové, the Czech Republic. His interest in music started in his early childhood. He studied classical piano at the Conservatory in Pardubice and then composition at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory in the class led by jazz pianist and composer Karel Růžička. He also attended lessons of arranging led by pianist and bandleader Milan Svoboda and jazz interpretation by pianist Matej Benko.
His primary musical activity (both as a pianist and a composer) presents his own band Martin Brunner Trio. The trio has already performed at many concerts and festivals and its debut CD “Behind the Clouds” was very successful on the Japanese music market. The song "Behind The Clouds" was awarded as "The Best Jazz Composition Of The Year" in Bohemia Jazz Fest and OSA competition and was performed at the main Bohemia Jazz Fest concert in 2010. The band regularly performs at well-known jazz clubs in Prague. Martin Brunner also composes music of other styles and genres (e.g. for big band or string quartet) and teaches obligatory jazz piano at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory.
Martin Brunner Trio is a band of a standard jazz trio format and it focuses exclusively on playing the original compositions. The trio was founded in autumn 2007 in Prague and the original line-up consisted of Martin Brunner – Martin Kapusník – Petr Mikeš. From 2007 to 2010, it performed at many concerts and festivals in the Czech Republic. In June 2009, the CD “Behind the Clouds” (containing nine original compositions) was released under the Czech label “Arta Records” and the trio toured the Czech Republic to promote the album. The composition “Behind the Clouds” was awarded “Best Jazz Composition of the Year” (by the “Bohemia Jazz Fest” and OSA association) and this piece was also released as a part of the retrospective CD of Arta Records (CD “Everybody Goes To Agharta”). The album was also very successful on the Japanese market.
In 2010, the original line-up of the band changed: Tomáš Hobzek became a new drummer and, later, new double bass player Rastislav Uhrík joined the band. The Trio went on another tour in the Czech Republic in 2011, performed at the festival “Jazz At The Prague Castle” (this concert was recorded and will be released in the future under label “Multisonic”) and in July 2011 recorded a new studio album, which is in preparation for its release. The band can be heard regularly at Prague’s well-known jazz clubs.
